Flipkart, Amazon Aim To Take Punjab MSMEs To Wider Markets
MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) in Punjab are all set to get a big boost after global e-commerce companies including Flipkart and Amazon signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Punjab a few days ago.
In fact, Amazon India’s deal is aimed to enable MSME exporters to export their products and reach out to its customers across 180+ countries. Flipkart, which signed two MoUs with the government, focuses to increase business and trade inclusion opportunities for the MSMEs.
Punjab is home to over 1.6 lakh micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, which are crucial drivers of job creation and economic growth, and reflects the enterprising spirit of the state. As per the MoU, Amazon India is said to conduct training's and onboarding workshops at key MSME clusters in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Patiala, and Bathinda in order to help MSME Exporters getting on-board Amazon’s 12 international marketplaces. Amazon’s initiative is a part of its Global Selling Program, which assisted 50,000 MSMEs across India to showcase over 150 million ‘Made in India’ products to customers to 180 countries. Abhijit Kamra, Director, Global Trade at Amazon India, said, “With the signing of this MoU with Government of Punjab, we will continue to play an active role in helping entrepreneurs from Punjab to launch their own businesses and reach out to millions of Amazon customers worldwide.”
Flipkart signed two MoUs with the Government of Punjab, the second one being directed to MSMEs to facilitate ease of on-boarding, operating and scaling up for MSMEs in the state. Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart Group stated on the development, “We look forward to a fruitful partnership with the Government of Punjab to provide the state’s numerous MSMEs, artisans and weavers the opportunity to showcase and sell their products to a pan-India customer base of over 200 million.” Many of these sellers are unfamiliar with how to sell online and do not have direct linkages with online marketplaces. With the marketplace of 3,000 sellers from Punjab, Flipkart has initiated a program to conduct workshops to address these issues.
